Many of you are avid night fishermen, especially for trout, and I'm interested in your thoughts on night fishing during this time of year - mainly late Nov and Dec. Do you do this and, if so, is it productive or worthwhile? How does it compare to other months?

In my personal experience, night fishing in summer is very productive, both for trout and bass. This is - of course - common knowledge. Back in my night fishing heyday (I don't do a lot of night fishing anymore) I also found the autumn months up until the end of October to be excellent night fishing for river smallmouths. However, I never fished beyond Oct (that I can remember). It seems to me that night fishing on limestone trout streams ought to be pretty good this time of year where water temps remain warmer(?). With the shorter days this time of year, I'm tempted to try night fishing for trout sometime soon. Am I nuts?

I'm curious to hear your views/opinions on this idea. The conventional wisdom is that night fishing is a warm season game.....but I'm not so sure. Wild trout in limestoners can be pretty aggressive this time of year.Hhmmm.....

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"I think I fish, in part, because it's an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution." John Gierach

I think it can be effective throughout the winter months, especially on limestoners, as the water temperature won't completely crash. But that's just a hunch and isn't backed by any facts (yet). A few weeks ago, when I was fishing at night, I got the crazy idea that I wanted to land a trout at night in each month of the year, and so that is now in the back of my mind as a goal. I kept telling myself I was going to knock November off that night, but November is still on the list after that night. A couple of things were probably working against me - it really wasn't that far into the night yet (only about 5:45 or 6:00PM) and I had to leave to get home. Naturally, I sat in accident traffic for an hour on the way home and could have fished for another hour and arrived home at the same time. And, it was raining on and off as well. I've done well after rain moved through and, but I've never landed a fish at night in the rain. I also hated one aspect of the location I was fishing - glaring spotlights in the background that I'm sure cast my silhouette into the stream. The fish were mostly hunkered down and I only had one half-hearted strike right as I was feeling guilty about sticking around longer when I should, and my conscience was telling me I probably should leave to go home. Oh, the ethical dilemmas one faces

Last year, I fished a freestoner on a night in late October which ended up with a terminal frost settling in. The air temperature went down to 24 degrees and the stream looked like it was steaming as the air temperature dropped. I did spot some fish out, holding in a run, but didn't get so much as a discernible sniff at what I was tossing. I'm probably guilty of fishing big surface flies too long, and should switch over to a big streamer, or run a mouse/dropper combo instead. I guess I love the auditory thrill of a brownie drowning a mouse too much.

My feeling is that a big brown is not going to turn down a big tasty morsel anytime of the year. Whatever primeval cost/benefit ratio calculator they built into their brains will kick in eventually if you present something to them any time of the year, although probability will be highest in the warmer months. I also feel that post-spawn, they're going to be taking what they can get to build up their spent reserves, so you're not nuts to at least try it.

Salmonoid, it sounds like we're on the same lines of thinking. That was my initial line of thought. Last night had me reconsidering a bit, but I may not have hit the right fish.

Posted on: 2013/12/2 19:38

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"I think I fish, in part, because it's an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution." John Gierach

I got one at night in March this year when the air temp was 35. Took a woolly bugger. That is the only non-green drake brown I've caught at night so far, I'm new to the game and didn't get to try it much this summer.

I'm not sure it would work great on the limestoners right now with some fish still being in full spawning mode (either paired up or keyed on eggs). Personally I would wait a week or two until more fish are on that post-spawn feeding binge. I did catch a 15-16" brown on a midge this afternoon after watching it gorging on the naturals for a few minutes. There were many more risers than two weeks ago which tells me the spawn has wound down enough that at least some fish are done keying on eggs and back to normal eating habits. This was on a Spring Creek trib.

yeah thats my thought too - there has to be holes in the dam or the walls with trout in it that don't come out til dark.

people might be surprised but big trout will actually back themselves into pipes - i saw a 20" trout backed into a water hatch once with just its nose poking out. the hole was not more than 6" across, no way did that trout go nose in first and turn round...

Posted on: 2013/12/3 14:04

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nowhere is so sweet, as the bosom of the vale where the bright waters meet.

I have been giving them a break. haven't fished for trout since summer. been hitting the surf all fall. not trying to start a big fit about spawning fish and what not but I don't see a problem with fishing now. the spawn is probably over or will be soon in valley. Ill probably try once my semester is over and I have a bunch of free time.